Red and Black
by PCGirl
Summary: Complete. Starts a year after How Far? ended. John and Natalie's lives and love for each other is put to the test as two people from their past come back from the dead.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters given in the story are property of ABC/Disney--the only thing that is my property is the idea from which the story is based on.

A/N: I think this is the longest I've gone without having a Jolie story going. I once made a joke and said this was the only way I'd let this happen in any of my stories. I'm going to try really really hard to get this story done before the wedding, but if it seems like it's getting sloppy as the date rolls nearer, you might have a break in the middle of October with no story. Enjoy! Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

Natalie walked into the Gym at the Center and took a look around—it was quiet, which was odd for a summer day. She walked across the empty basketball court and into the game room where the air hockey, pool table, and a few video machines were fixed. All the boys were huddled around the pool table, but she could see all the cues were up on the rack bolted to the wall. "What's going on, fellas?" she asked as she walked behind them and they jumped at her sight.

"Hi Miss Natalie," said Jeremy with the grin of a guilty man.

"What are you all doing here? Anyone want to shoot some hoops out there?" she asked as they all shook their heads no. She looked behind them as saw the felt was cut along the edge where they were standing.

"Nothing—we were just thinking about playing a game," said one of the other boys standing near one of the corner pockets.

"Right—how'd the felt get cut?"

"I—I don't know," shrugged Jeremy.

"If someone doesn't tell me now I'm going to have to call in reinforcements and do a full body search of all of you—better yet, I'll call the cops for damaged property," she said as they all looked at each other and then one of them walked up and handed over the switchblade, "Who does this belong to?"

"Sam's brother," said an undistinguishable voice in the middle.

"Sam—go in my office, please. The rest of you—the game room is off limits for the rest of the afternoon. I oughta make it until I get back from vacation, but I have a heart," she said as there was a low rumble of displeasure as she watched them all leave the room and then turned off the lights and locked the game room shut.

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"He doesn't know I have it—I swear Miss Natalie. We were just trying to fix out the lumps."

Natalie tried to hold in a laugh—cutting the felt and stretching it was one way to get the lumps out—it was about as bad as the one in AC at the Skat-o-rama when she was growing up, but she knew cutting the felt wasn't going to solve anything. "I know what you were attempting to do, but that still doesn't give you right to destroy property—I'll write out a note in a bit for your parents to read, now go play with the rest of the guys," she sighed as she watched him leave and she closed her eyes.

The Center wasn't easy—these kids had it worse off than she did in AC and she saw that now, but she was making a difference little by little. When she had first started they didn't want anything to do with her—made her first few months a living hell that by the time of the wedding on New Years Eve she was ready to move back to Llanview, but then she decided to push back one more time—and that was all it took.

Finally they saw the light and realized she was just as tough as they were and wasn't going to allow them to get away with all the stuff the other counselors did. She looked over at the newspaper article now matted and hanging on the wall—"Natalie Buchanan McBain Receives Award." It was the first time a beginning counselor at any of the Centers in the area received an award for reaching out to the children and thus causing there to be more children attending the Center on a regular basis instead of mulling around the streets all day.

Her mind came back to reality when the phone rang, "Natalie McBain," she answered.

"I still like the sound of that," he laughed.

"Hey—how's it going?"

"Boring, as always—how is everything there today?"

"Oh, same old thing—I confiscated a switchblade though," she said as she picked it up and took another look at it.

"From who?" asked John with fear it had been used against her.

"One of the kids—they were ripping the felt on the pool table to stretch it and make it less bumpy—or that's the way they thought it would work."

"Well, that's one way to solve a problem."

"Yeah, well for a second I thought about canceling the order on the new pool table—but I just kept seeing their eyes when we open after Christmas to see a new table there in the game room—I couldn't do it. I must be turning into a softy."

"You—a softy? Never. You wouldn't even let me win a game of pool on my birthday," he laughed.

"Oh yeah—maybe I will tonight," she grinned as she looked to see Adrienne was standing at her door, "Hey—I gotta go, I'll see you in awhile."

"Ok—I better start looking busy," he grinned. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said and then smiled at her fellow counselor, "Are they about to stage a coup for the pool table?"

"Didn't look like it—I called someone to repair the damage before we open in the morning. Did you get a chance to review the candidates for the position for tomorrow?"

"No, but I already put them in my bag to do at home—so we can have a quick conference before the interviews start in the morning?"

"Sounds like a plan—I'm going to work on the Back to School newsletter we'll send out to them while you are on vacation," she grinned.

"Hey—you got to take a two week vacation earlier in the summer."

"I know—it's just I didn't go anywhere exciting," she sighed.

Natalie gave her a look that questioned Adrienne's last comment, "And England is exciting?"

"Sure—if you've never been there," she shrugged as Natalie finished printing out a sheet and handed it to Adrienne, "Ooo—nice," she smiled.

"Yeah, well I figured that could be my contribution to the newsletter—since I won't be here," she said as Adrienne gave her a nod and Natalie began working on some last minute paperwork.

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John walked into the same apartment he and Natalie had shared since they moved to Philly—a few better ones had come along, but somehow in the middle of everything they realized their small place was perfect for them. The only thing they had really needed was an office, so they had bought some screens and set up a corner of the living room for a desk and computer. He could see her shadow being cast against the screen from the small desk lamp and walked over and watched her in deep concentration for a moment, "Hey."

Natalie jumped and looked up to see him leaning against the screen, smiling down at her, "Hey," she smiled getting up and putting down the file before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You looked like you were pretty into reading that file. Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just something I have to have done by the morning. How was work?"

"It was—well, work," he laughed at her and suddenly realized that as close as they were at the moment he wanted to be closer. He leaned over and turned off the desk lamp and began walking backwards towards the couch. He paused for a moment and took a look at her in the shadowy room, "I missed you."

"You did?" she grinned.

"Yeah, I did," he said running his hand over her hair.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that—because I missed you too," she grinned as she shoved him down onto the couch and they were lost in each other. As long as they had their little apartment and each other then it felt like nothing could touch them.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Glad people are still enjoying my Jolie stories--I'm still enjoying writing them. This chapter was going to be longer but I split it in two--the next chapter should be coming out soon--within a day or two. Everyone enjoy! Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

Natalie got out of her car and hit the lock button twice before looking ahead and seeing Sam and his older brother standing by the door to the Center, "Hey guys—what's going on?"

"My brother told me about the blade you got from him yesterday. I wanted to say I'm sorry about what he did."

"Well, thanks for the apology," she said as she began to walk towards the door.

"So can I get it back?"

"Will—I cannot and will not give you the switchblade back. It was found on Center property, and you all know that if something illegal is confiscated on property we have to turn it over to authorities. You should be glad there's an anonymity clause in that and if nobody was injured we don't have to report you."

"But I use it for defense on the streets—I thought you would understand that."

"I do, and I'm sorry you lost your _defense_, but I already turned it in this morning to John. Now I need to get inside," she said as she unlocked the door and then locked it back up behind her. She peeked her head inside of the game room to see someone working on repairing the felt before she dropped off her purse and went to Adrienne's office, "Good morning."

"Hey—what did you think of the resumes last night?" she said as Natalie was silent, "Please tell me you looked at them," she laughed.

"I did—there was one though," she said as she shuffled through them and handed it to Adrienne, "She gave us nothing about her life before six years ago. Did you find that odd?"

"Yeah, but I called her previous employer—he was really nice and said she was a great asset to them and he was sad to see her have to move away. Did John say we should do an all out background check?" she laughed.

"No, I didn't even tell him about it."

"Alright, well I'll do the first interview and then you do the second."

"Sounds like a plan," said Natalie as she turned and went to make herself a morning cup of coffee.

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"Listen, we know all about this case—yes, she was a friend but she was more than that. Ok, fine—but if you don't give us details soon I'm sending someone out to California," sighed Bo as he hung up the phone and in walked Antonio and Daniel, "What do you two have?"

"I called Riley—he told Jenn he'd pick her up when he got done at the studio—he's lying and telling her he has this romantic night set up," said Daniel as he leaned against the filing cabinet and looked at Antonio.

"Jessica knows something is up—she could tell I was lying on the phone. What did they say in California?"

"Nothing. They won't believe me about all last year and there's too much in the case file to just fax it."

"I'll go—I'll call Jess back, tell her I have to do a quick fly out to California—transferring some evidence in a case."

"Ok, so who gets to call John?" smirked Daniel as the door opened to Bo's office and in walked Nora.

"Wow—you three and John on a case—sounds like old times. Is this a guy only thing or can a lady join?" laughed Nora as she walked in and realized they weren't laughing at her comment, "Ok—spill it."

Bo leaned back in his chair, his eyes deadlocked on Nora's, "Rae Cummings was found dead in her office yesterday afternoon—she was strangled with a red leotard."

"Hold on—did I just hear you right?" asked Nora.

"All we know is what John Sykes called and told me very late last night. He told the police about the whole Haver incident last year and they finally thought it might be worth looking into and called me about two hours ago."

"So Bo has been trying to explain to them everything, and Antonio and I have been making sure possible victims of his are not alone at the moment."

"But this might still be a copycat right? I mean we have no proof--," she stopped as they all gave her an odd look. She sighed as sat down on the couch, "Oh great—who calls John?"

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Natalie walked down the hallway from seeing the previous interviewee out and to her car and stopped in her office doorway. The next interviewee's back was to her as she stood at Natalie's desk holding something. Natalie knew immediately it was the picture of her and John's wedding. She gave out a cough to let the woman know she was there, "Hi—can I help you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said the woman as she put down the photograph and Natalie almost could read her eyes—there was something in them that spoke volumes, but it was gone in a flash, "My name is Cairyn," she said shaking Natalie's hand and taking a seat.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Cairyn," she said as she pulled out Cairyn's resume from the stack, again taking note on the unique spelling. The woman across from her had short blonde hair—though it seemed she was a bottle blonde and her natural hair color—somewhere between auburn and chestnut—was coming through. Leave it to years of working with Roxy for Natalie to first notice if someone had a bad dye job. Natalie kept thinking she'd seen her somewhere before—maybe her sister worked nearby. She shook off what John had now called her detective intuition and continued the interview, "It seems in the past six years you've had a lot of experience—what about prior to that time?"

"Oh, I didn't do much then—I kind of hopped from job to job trying to figure out what my direction in life should be."

"I know the feeling," she laughed as she took a second to look over the rest of her questions before continuing the interview.

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"Ok, I'll be right there," said John as he hung up his office phone and grabbed his coat. He was two steps to the door when the phone began ringing again. He gave a loud sigh and answered, "McBain."

"John."

"Antonio—listen, can I call you back? They need me at a crime scene."

"Yeah, that's fine—listen, I'm going to California—transferring some evidence from an old case."

John sighed, he knew Antonio wouldn't be heading out to California two days before they left for vacation, "How old of a case?"

Antonio again wondered how he had been stuck with calling John, "Rae Cummings was found dead in her office yesterday afternoon—the only thing we know was she was strangled with a red leotard."

A shiver went over John as he listened to the little extra information that Antonio was able to give him, "Ok—listen, tomorrow we'll be in Llanview."

"You're coming home, Chief?"

"You bet I'm coming home, and don't call me Chief," laughed John as he realized the joke calmed his nerves down just a tad. "See you when you get home—and if I think of anymore questions you should ask them I'll let you know."

"I always knew I could count on you."

"Glad I could be of service," he said as he hung up and went off to help with the crime scene he'd been called on and then it would be time to make an unexpected lunch stop at the Center to check on Natalie.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Cru--I'm glad I surprised you, it's always fun to do that. This story is rolling right along, not sure where I'll be in it when the wedding date gets here, but I'll try to not leave you with a cliff hanger (unless I want to be really evil--hmmmm, decisions decisions). Anyways, everyone enjoy and I hope you especially enjoy the last sentence of this chapter ;) Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

John pulled his truck into the parking lot—he hadn't figured out an explanation for his being here, but decided he'd just wing it—that's what worked that night when he tried to get her to hear his reasons. He waved to a few of the guys on the basketball court and went inside, taking the proper turns to where Natalie's office was.

He smiled at watching her in front of the copier—she was lost in her own world and he walked so quietly usually people didn't hear him coming up behind them. He slipped up behind her and put his arms around her waist—feeling her jump for a moment and then relax as he hugged her tighter and his warm breath fell against her neck, "How does lunch sound?"

Natalie grinned while trying to accomplish her task at hand, "That sounds divine. What are you doing here?"

"I can't come and see my wife?" he said, kissing her neck softly. He knew the longer he had her not facing him the easier it would be to hide his fear of Rae's death. The whole time he'd been at the other crime scene and then the drive over here he kept asking himself the same questions—how could the man have survived? Was it a ploy and everyone—including his brother—was fooled by this madman?

"Of course you can see me," she said finally turning around and leaning upwards to kiss him. "I just have an interviewee in my office, and then let me tell Adrienne I'm going out for lunch."

"That's fine," he said as he began to play with the copier buttons for a moment and smiled when she returned a second later, "That was quick."

"She's gone—that was really odd, I mean I was only gone for a moment."

"Hmm. Maybe she's in the bathroom."

"Maybe. Do you want to come with me to Adrienne's office and then we can leave?"

"Sure," said John as he followed behind her. They had come around the corner when the closet door next to Natalie's office opened and Cairyn stepped out, taking a look towards where Natalie and John just walked off to and then left quietly as she came in.

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"So explain to me why you picked me up for lunch today?" asked Natalie as she chomped down on a fry as they sat in the bar near the Center. The first week of work Adrienne had introduced this place to Natalie, and soon her and John would meet here a few times a week for lunch if possible—they had made it remind them more of Rodi's when they had talked the owner into putting in a pool table over in the corner.

"I told you—I was coming back from a case, it was lunchtime and I was coming by the Center—nothing more than that," he said wiping his mouth and looking towards the pool table where a game was about to finish up. He knew he couldn't keep her from the Center for long, but thought he'd get a quick game in to keep her in his sight.

"You're looking at the table—you want to play or talk, McBain?" laughed Natalie as she got up and turned towards it.

"I was thinking--."

"Hi Natalie," said Adam, one of the boys from the Center and quickly becoming a pool shark like Natalie.

"Hey," she said as she messed up his hair, "What are you doing here?"

"I got bored, so I decided to come down and play pool—you want to play with me?"

"Sure, but you know we've got a table at the Center—why use this one?"

"The one at the center has more hills and valleys in it than a roller coaster," he snorted off as he began to collect the balls and rack them.

His comment made John chuckle as he pulled out his cell phone, "I'm going to make a call—I'll be right back." He knew Natalie would be fine in there playing a game with Adam. He turned the corner and stopped at the pay phone—there was a scent in the air that was bothering him. It was familiar—soft, airy, reminded him of a field of wildflowers. It wasn't Natalie's—he knew what she wore, it was roses, strong and rich with fragrance, but still fragile—just like her.

He shook off the scent and continued outside to where he had a full signal and began dialing, "Hey," he said as he leaned against the brick wall and put his head back, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Hey John," said Bo on the other end.

"Any news from Antonio yet?"

"He's not even there yet—it takes more than two hours to fly across the Country. But they did call and tell me a few tid bits."

"Such as?"

"Rae had been mentioning odd things to her coworkers—the newspaper was moved to the front stoop a few times at home, she'd get bizarre faxes a few times in the past weeks."

"Ok, where was she found?"

"Her office—she was having a new patient come in for a session. The bizarre thing is that it was in the middle of the day—people saw him come in and leave the office. It wasn't for a few more hours until someone went to check on Rae and found her dead."

"Ok, let's see—where to start? I guess see if we can get a copy of the faxes, and surveillance tapes from the stores close to her office—have they shown her co-workers a picture of Haver yet. Anything else—I'm sure they've already talked to her neighbors?"

"Antonio already has those on the list of questions—except for surveillance tapes."

"Good," said John as he suddenly smelled the wild flowers again and opened his eyes to see someone walking past him in a black hooded coat. "Hold on Bo," he said as he ran around the corner but found the coat thrown in a trash heap.

"John, you there?"

"Yeah, sorry—I—nevermind," he said as his words trailed, "I need to get Natalie back to the Center—I'll call later after I talk to the boss and tell him what's up," he said hanging up the phone.

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"Bye Natalie!" yelled Adrienne from inside the kitchen as Natalie walked by on the way out to her car. Something felt immediately wrong and she almost went back inside the Center but continued on to her car. She sighed when she saw what had happened—all four tires had been slashed on her car, "Great. Just great," she said as she took out her cell phone and turned to go back to tell Adrienne. She stopped as she realized someone was now standing behind her, "Oh, Cairyn—hi."

"Hi Natalie. What's the problem?"

"Oh, I guess I made someone mad," she sighed as she pointed to her car, "I was just going to tell Adrienne to call a tow truck and have my husband come pick me up."

"Well, why don't I give you a ride home? You don't live to far away, do you?"

"No, just a couple miles, but you don't have to do that."

"Sure I do—it's no trouble at all," she said as she motioned towards her car that was parked towards the front of the lot.

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John took a look at his watch and outside the bedroom window again—where was Natalie? He had called Adrienne after she was supposed to leave the Center to explain to her that he and Natalie had to leave for Llanview in the morning—she had been completely understanding over the whole ordeal and hoped it turned out alright. Then five minutes later she called him back to tell him that Natalie's tires had been slashed but she couldn't find Natalie anywhere. His heart raced as he thought of what could have happened to her—there was no way Haver knew they were in Philadelphia now. Unless he somehow saw the news article for the award she had received. He heard the front door open and ran in to see her walking in, "Hey."

"Hi," she smiled as she put down her bag, "You're home early."

"Yeah," he said pulling her in for a hug.

She pulled out of the hug and looked at him, "John—you're scaring me—what's wrong?"

"Adrienne called and told me the tires were slashed, but she couldn't find you. How did you get home? Did you take a taxi?"

"No, Cairyn drove me home."

"Cairyn?"

"Yeah, the interviewee that disappeared before we went to lunch."

"And she suddenly reappeared in time to drive you home after your tires were slashed?"

"She had a phone call coming in on her cell phone—you know how bad the reception is inside of the Center. I guess we just didn't see her walk by us before."

"Yeah, I guess so," he said as he relaxed some that she was safely at home now.

"What else is there you aren't telling me? And don't say nothing because I know better."

John sat down on the edge of the couch and looked down before looking up at her and grabbing her hands, "You know I'll do anything in the world to protect you. I'd die for you if it meant you'd be safe and alive."

Natalie tried to smile but couldn't, "I know that—you've already saved me multiple times. Especially when Haver was on the loose."

John sighed at the name and stood up, releasing his hold on her, "I don't know how—I mean I've been wracking my brain all day on how this happened, and the only thing I can figure out is the guy is some damn vampire," chuckled John.

"Are you saying Stephen Haver is still alive?" asked Natalie and then answered her question, "Oh my God, John—what happened?"

"Rae Cummings was killed in her office in California—her coworkers said she had an appointment with a new client—she was strangled with a red leotard. I—uhm—their expecting us back in Llanview tomorrow."

"Oh really? Well, how would you like me to get my car fixed then?"

"Adrienne and Greg are having it towed to their house and then he's going to get it fixed while we're gone," he said as he watched Natalie's mouth open, "Wait—yes, I know I should have talked this over with you before I went ahead and did all of this stuff. But let me say my peace before you yell at me, I love you Natalie—you are my world, and you know that, and I need to be in Llanview to help out Bo and Antonio with this case and there is no way I am letting you out of my sight," he said as he pulled her against him and covered her mouth with his.

She pulled back, "So what happens when we meet face to face with the damn vampire?"

"I'm sure I'll have found some silver bullets to shoot him with by then," laughed John.


	4. Chapter 4

"Will you please let me go!" shouted Nora as the officer held her arm tightly while she was escorted into the Police Station. "Bo—Daniel—tell your guard dog to back off."

"Officer Rodney—you can go—we'll take it from here," said Bo as he motioned towards his office.

"What was that all about? I mean I was running with Evangeline, minding my own business when two brutes came up to us and forced myself here and took Evangeline back to her house."

"It was a security measure. We had put cops on both of you, and this morning when they couldn't get an answer at the house we put a search out for you."

"I went running—is that a crime?"

"When Stephen Haver is running around it is," spoke Daniel.

"Fine. If you don't mind I'll go lock myself in my house now."

"This was for your own safety," said Bo and Daniel at the same time.

"Well, I'm so happy you take my safety into consideration, but I'm a big girl and I can watch my own back," she shouted as she walked out of Bo's office before slamming the door behind her.

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Natalie closed the door and sighed, "I thought we'd never get rid of him."

"I heard that," said John in the hallway outside of Adrienne's office.

"Ten minutes, McBain!" she hollered then began laughing. She had talked John into having her come to the Center so she and Adrienne could discuss the interviews from yesterday.

"Is he ok? He looked tired."

Natalie shook her head, "He didn't sleep any last night—I could feel him lying there trying not to wake me, but it didn't work. He got up a few times and I could see him standing at the window looking outside."

"He's anxious to catch this guy finally?"

"It's—it's more than that. I'm not sure he wants me to explain to others, but let's just say John and Stephen Haver knew each other before they both came to Llanview," she said as Adrienne's mouth went into an 'O' shape before they began discussing who should be given the new counselor position.

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Nora gave a sigh before walking into Daniel's office to see him sitting in his chair with his back to her, "Daniel—I wanted to apologize before. I mean I know what you and Bo were doing—you are on the edge right now, everyone is—I hate to think what is going through John's mind right now. Will you please turn around so I can finish groveling before John does get here?" she asked as the chair swung around and she saw Stephen Haver sitting in the chair, "Haver."

"Hello, dear Nora. It's so wonderful to see you once again," he said as he got out of the chair and Nora froze in place, unsure whether to scream or reach for something to hit him with. "And it's even more wonderful to know dear Johnny Boy is coming home just for me. I take it that he and Mrs. Vega finally ended up tying the knot while I was gone—I was saddened to know that I didn't receive an invitation, but then I didn't leave a forwarding address the last time I left."

"How—how are you alive?" she was finally able to squeak out.

"It's funny that you should ask that question," he said as he took a seat on the edge of Colson's desk before continuing, "Rae asked me that same exact question when I walked into her office two days ago—but if I told you, well then I'd have to kill you," he said with a slight chuckle.

"What do you want from us?"

"What do I want? Well, that's a simple question—I want to see John McBain lose the love of his life all over again," said Stephen as he walked closer to Nora but suddenly the office door opened and in walked Daniel.

"Daniel!" yelled Nora as Haver suddenly spun around and punched Daniel before running out. Nora ran to Daniel's side as she heard the commotion begin outside. Daniel's eyes opened and Nora was able to laugh slightly, "I guess I do need you to watch my back after all."

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Adrienne pulled out the paper and began dialing as she sat at her desk, "Hi—Cairyn?"

"Oh, hello," said Cairyn on the other end as she sat with a shoebox on her lap in a small apartment living room somewhere in the city.

"I just wanted to let you know that Natalie and I both decided to offer the position to you."

"Why thank you very much," she said as she ran her hand over the box as if it were holding something valuable inside.

"Can you come by today and fill out some paperwork for me?"

"Certainly. Will Natalie be there in case you are out?"

"Actually, Natalie had an emergency at home and had to leave for her vacation early, but I should be here all day."

"Well, I'll try and make it by, but I was planning on going out of town this weekend myself. Could we do the paperwork on Monday instead?"

"That'll work too—I'll see you early afternoon then," said Adrienne as she hung up the phone and a second later there was a knock at the door, "It's open."

"Hi Adrienne," said Adam.

"Hey—what's up?"

"Is Miss Natalie here today?"

"No, she ended up having to start vacation a day early. I'm not as good of a pool player as she is, but if you want me to play a game I can try and win," she said laughing which brought a smile to his face.

"No, I don't want to play pool. I wanted to talk to her about her slashed tires yesterday."

"Adam, do you know who did that? You know it's completely confidential—was it Sam's brother Will?"

"No ma'am—it wasn't one of us kids at all. It was an older woman."

"An older woman?" she asked as her attention perked up, "When did you see this woman?" 

"Yesterday, after Miss Natalie and I played pool while she was having lunch with John. John had offered to drive me back here also, but I said I'd walk. I was on the other side of the street walking over to my Aunt's house—my mom had given me something to give to her. John gave Miss Natalie a kiss goodbye and then drove off. Then after she'd gone inside a woman pulled up in a car right next to hers. I couldn't tell what the woman had in her hands, but then I realized the tires were going flat."

"What did she look like?"

"Like I said—it was hard to see, but she had short blonde hair—Miss Natalie hasn't done anything wrong to anyone from what I can tell. I had to get to my Aunt's house, and when I finally came back I saw Miss Natalie's car being towed away."

"Adam—I want to thank you for coming and telling me this. I'll call and tell Natalie and John what you saw in a bit, but for now let's go play a game of pool," she said as she got up from her desk and reached back to grab her personal pool cue.

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"Well, at least she wasn't hurt. Thanks Bo," said John as he hung up the cell phone and threw it in the cup holder of the truck.

"What's wrong?"

John gave a short sigh, "Haver paid Nora a visit this morning. Luckily Colson came in before anything happened, but then they lost Haver in the chase," finished John with a yawn.

"You want me to drive?" she asked as a sudden yawn came over her.

"No—I'm fine. Are you ok? Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"I should be asking you that question—I know you didn't sleep at all last night."

"I'm sorry I kept you up—I should have gone into the living room."

"Yeah, because that would have helped me a lot."

"You—you need to get your rest right now, Babe—I just don't want you to worry about me. It's just—you know," he shrugged.

"Yeah, I know what it is, and I know I can't force you to sleep—unless I slip something into your beer tonight," she winked at him, causing a smile to finally crack on his rough exterior expression. "There's that smile I love."

"Yeah, you have that effect on me," he said with a chuckle.

"That was part of my vows to you—don't you remember?"

John thought hard for a second then grinned, "No, I don't think I remember that part."

"Oh, it must have slipped because I meant to say something about always getting you to lighten up a bit—even when you don't want to."

"Are you saying I'm edgy right now?"

Natalie laughed, "John—you've had your hands at 'ten and two' since we pulled out of the Center parking lot."

John gave a shrug as he thought of a viable excuse, "I'm got precious cargo on board," he said as he moved his hand and placed it on her stomach before turning his head for a moment and giving her a wink and a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Robin—thank you for the Congrats. :) I had already decided I needed to say what the beginning of the hiatus would be in this chapter. I'm getting married on October 9th, and I am thinking the hiatus will begin around October 4th, though it might start earlier—it all depends on where I am in the story. If I'm at a good stopping point I won't go any further. Now as for the end of the hiatus—we get back home on the 18th so let's make it simple and say the 20th or later is when you'll get the next chapter. But let's stop thinking about me not writing—I've got two more weeks to tell this story.

One more comment—for some reason I did it again and have slid in a PC reference in for kicks. This one is tougher so I'll give you a clue—if you find it and realize it then you have truly viewed ME's first episode of PC. ;) Hope I haven't given it away—and I'll share it with everyone in the next author's note. Until then—everyone enjoy—PCGirl. 

-------------

John walked into the Llanview PD and took a look around—it felt like home to him. He gave a nod to the new secretary at the desk and walked on and into Bo's office, "Hey John."

"Hi. So what's new?" he asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee like old times.

"We're waiting on the FBI agent they are sending us."

John's eyebrows went up as he took a sip and shook his head in disgust, "They are already giving us an agent on this?"

"Yeah—where is Natalie?"

"I dropped her off at Foxy Roxy's—told her I'd be there in an hour and she better still be there," he said as he put down the coffee cup and turned to see the door open. "You have got to be kidding me," he grinned as Sonia Toledo walked into Bo's office.

"What—are you not happy to see me John?" she smiled as she walked past Bo. "I've only had a few minutes to read over the case file—you two tell me what I'm doing here."

"Stephen Haver was shot as he was taken in for his hearing last year—I stood just outside the room, my brother was in the room and we both heard him put blame on me for shooting him and then he died."

"Supposedly died," she corrected him as John rolled his eyes at her. "I heard something about Nora saw him?"

"Yeah. She went into Daniel Colson's office to apologize and he was in there. He punched Colson and ran—my officers chased him, but he was somehow able to outrun them."

"That's pretty sad since he has to where a shoe device for a bad leg."

"You gave him that bad leg," said Bo absently.

"Excuse me?" asked Sonia.

John sighed again, "Stephen Haver has been known to do two other serial killings—they happened when you were deep into your Santi cover. I might have gotten a little cocky with him, and he shot me and my fiancé in our own home—she died, and I was in the hospital for weeks with a shot to the abdomen—I was able to take a shot off of him though, reinjured a bad leg from when he jumped out of a window after killing and setting his grandparents house on fire."

"Wow. This guy sounds swell," she said dryly, "Where do we start looking?"

"Normally with Haver you don't look—he contacts you and ruffles your feathers until you are about to snap."

"I take it you snapped a lot with him—the homicide in California that Antonio is working with—tell me about her."

John looked at Bo as he began to speak, "Rae Cummings—was the force psychiatrist and dealt with him. He thought he'd killed her, but she survived. Right before he killed Natalie and took out half of Angel Square out with a bomb she walked in—he was the one who snapped this time. I guess he was finishing up his mistake from last year."

"So we've got some madman that has killed 30-something women out there and you two want to just sit and wait?"

"Well, Agent Toledo—what is your suggestion?" grinned John.

---------------------

John walked into a silent Foxy Roxy's, "Babe?" he called out to silence. He placed his hand on his gun and walked slowly around the free standing wall to see nobody. His head turned as the front door opened and saw Natalie and Roxy walk in. He glared at his wife as she froze at seeing him. He walked over and pulled her close to him, kissing the top of her head before looking down at her—the glare in his eyes still there, "You weren't supposed to leave here—I thought that's what we promised."

"It was—I just wanted to get something to eat at the Diner. We were looking for your truck to go by—where is it?"

"The FBI agent on the case is staying at the hotel—I caught a ride with her and walked over."

"FBI agent?"

"Sonia Toledo—we're supposed to meet her and she'll take us back to the station," he said as he looked to Roxy, "Will you be ok here by yourself, Roxy?"

"Who me? Yeah, I'm a rough and tough kinda gal—if he comes anywhere near me I'll just do some tai chi on him."

John resisted the urge to correct her and leaded Natalie outside of the business, "Goodnight Roxy."

John and Natalie were at the Angel Square statue when she stopped walking and pulled at his wrist, "Hey--."

John turned to look at her, "Hi. Is something wrong?"

"No—I just wanted to stop here for a moment. She always seems to bring peace on anyone who stands in front of her," she said as she looked up to the statue. "I'm not running from Haver, John—so whatever you and Antonio have planned it will not include me and Jessica going to London without you two. So don't even think about it."

John couldn't help but give a half grin, "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"And I don't want to leave you in the hands of a madman—I can't lose you John, I lost Cristian to a madman already," she said as her eyes teared up. "I thought we were through with all this Haver stuff—I mean he died, you and Michael saw him die. How is it possible?"

John shook his head, "I don't know, but--," he stopped as they heard a noise behind them and saw no one there, "Hello? Come out now--," he called and took Natalie's hand as he moved closer to where the sound came from, and then heard noise behind him the other direction and saw Sonia walking up to them, "Was that you just then?"

"No—I came from Roxy's—thought that's where you said you'd be."

"Stay with Sonia," he said giving Natalie's hand a tight squeeze and going to investigate. He came back a minute later holding a black hooded cloak, "Whoever it was—they left this," he said smelling it before handing it to Sonia.

"It's—wildflowers?" she asked quizzically before handing it to Natalie.

"This is familiar—I've smelled this perfume recently," she said as she handed it back to John.

"Me too—it was the other day when Adam played a game of pool with you and I went to make that phone call. Someone had just left the pay phone and then walked past me when I was outside—she dropped this the first time too."

"Are you saying she's been following us since Philadelphia?"

"That's what it looks like now," he sighed as they began walking back towards the hotel.

--------------

John was almost done with the dishes at Jessica and Antonio's apartment when he heard Natalie's cell phone start playing 'Ode to Joy'. He wiped his hands on his pants and reached for it, looking at the number and grinning, "Hey Adrienne."

"Hey Johnny Boy," she said. Normally her pet name for him would have kept him grinning but this time it sent chills up his spine, "Where's Nat?"

"Already asleep. We were trying to get Jamie to go to sleep so Natalie laid down with her on the couch and they were both out within ten minutes," he smiled.

"That's good—she didn't sleep much last night, and from what I saw earlier you didn't either."

"Yeah—I know."

"Well, I won't keep you long—we've got the new tires on Nat's car, but--."

"What?"

"Adam came in this morning—he saw who it was that slashed the tires. He was across the street so he couldn't see much but it was a female, older woman—probably around our age, and she was blonde. Do you have any clue who it might be?"

John thought for a second before responding, "None. In the morning call the station and ask for Officer Henry Anderson—tell him I want him to look into the slashing. In case he asks tell him I'll call for any updates—I've got bigger fish to fry," he said as he thought that was the case unless the fish that slashed the tires was from the same school.

"That's fine. You need to get some sleep—take care of that family of yours Johnny. Better yet—take care of yourself."

"Always do. I'll tell Natalie you called and the car is fixed," he said as he hung up her phone and decided he'd see if the sandman would decide to pay him a visit tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Short chapter--but sweet. Enjoy! Until next time--ya'll are the best--PCGirl. 

* * *

Natalie could feel John relaxed next to her and gave a sigh of relief—she opened one eye lid to see that he wasn't asleep though, but lying there quietly watching her. "Morning," she said as she closed her eyes again, "I was hoping you were asleep."

"I was—until about ten minutes ago. How are you feeling? Queasy?" asked John as he pushed aside some of the hair around her face and kissed her forehead.

"No, I feel fine—but we shouldn't say anything in case Jessica and Antonio come in and want to know what we're talking about," she said as she moved in closer to him and he held her a little tighter.

"That's fine—I kinda like knowing something that nobody else knows."

"Your mom knows. Adrienne knows."

"Adrienne knew before we did," he said with a half chuckle that caused Natalie to finally open her eyes and look at him, "Hey there beautiful."

"Just wait about another six months and say that to me then."

"You're right. Then you'll be gorgeous," he said as he pulled her body the rest of the way on top of his. He covered her mouth and a second later they heard Jamie start crying from her room.

Natalie pulled back and laid down next to him again, "In a few months that'll be us with the crying baby."

"I can't wait," he said as he took her face in his hands and gave her one last deep kiss before they finally decided to start their day.

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"Thanks Babe," said John as he took the coffee cup from Natalie and she shut the window so he and Antonio could sit on the fire escape and have a meeting. "So like I was saying—Natalie is not going to let us leave them in a safe house by themselves."

"Well, we can't exactly let them roam around Llanview with Haver on the loose."

"Yeah, well I was thinking—this time we've got Sonia as the FBI Agent, not me. So I don't necessarily have to be _in _Llanview the whole time."

"Ok," said Antonio as he tried to realize where John was going with this. "So we need a place where us four can stay that is not in Llanview, but within—what, a thirty minute drive?"

"Yeah. I was thinking about Asa's cabin. I've only been up there once, but you know it's pretty secluded."

"Very secluded," corrected Antonio.

"So I guess we're going camping," laughed John as Jessica tapped on the window to tell them breakfast was ready.

--------------

"So are we all in agreement about going up to the cabin?" asked John as he pulled out a pill bottle and took out two pills, passing the larger one to Natalie along with a glass of water.

"Yeah—I'd like to go by and see Mom first though," said Natalie as she took a gulp of water and handed the water back to John.

"Is everything ok? What was the pill for?" asked Jessica.

"It was just vitamins—John thought it'd be a good idea if I started taking them," she said, grinning at John because of the truth. Her mind wandered back to just a week ago—

_John opened his eyes to see Natalie's side of the bed was empty and he listened to see where she was—the bathroom had become her normal morning location these past few days—she kept putting it off as the stomach flu. She walked back into the bedroom and a smile instantly appeared on his face, "Sick again?"_

"_Actually, no. Adrienne gave me something yesterday she always takes when she gets like this—I was just trying it out. Do you want some coffee?"_

"_No," he said quietly and rubbed his face into the pillow, "Come back to bed."_

_Natalie smiled at the tone of his voice and sat down on the side, his arm instantly wrapped around and pulled her down so her head was laying on his chest, "You sure you don't want some coffee?"_

"_What's up with you this morning?"_

_Natalie moved around so her head was now laying on his arm, she nuzzled into him and sighed, "Nothing."_

"_Ok," he said—not pushing the issue and they laid there until they soon heard her cell phone ringing from the living room._

"_I'm not getting it—they'll leave a message," she said as she truly tried to come up with a reason for getting out of the bed._

"_Nat--."_

"_No, I'm not letting you go," she said as she held on tighter and then the phone began to ring, "Fine—you go get it," she said—as she got up and went to the bathroom and took the test off the counter. A second later she looked up to see John staring at her with the phone in his hand._

"_It's Adrienne—she wanted to know if what she told you take this morning worked," he choked out at looking at the box still sitting on the counter._

_Natalie grinned at his loss of voice and took the phone, "It worked—I'll call you later," she said hanging up the phone._

_John gulped, "So what does it say?"_

"_We're pregnant," she said as John finally came back to normal and picked her up off the ground._

"Natalie—where were you just then?" asked Jessica after saying Natalie's name a few times.

"Hmmm? Oh, nowhere—I was just thinking about how much different this Saturday is from last week," she said giving John a wink that caused him to chuckle, "Do you have anywhere to go Jess?"

"Yeah, I need to go to the Paper for something, and Antonio should probably drop Jamie off with RJ."

"So John and I will go do what we want to do, and then we'll meet back up here around 2 and head up to the cabin then?" said Natalie, ready to tell her Mom the news and then sit and wait for Haver's next move.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: This has got to be my favorite chapter so far in this story--because, well you'll see. Robin--the PC reference, you pretty much got it. It was actually the line 'tai chi' that Roxy said. Eve said it to Fr. Michael in the woods when he said there are wild animals out here. Everyone enjoy! Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

"Ready?" smiled John as they stood outside of Vicki's office at the University. They had been planning on being there earlier, but Sonia had sidetracked them at the Station for a bit longer, so they weren't going to get to see Michael.

"Of course," she said as she gave a soft knock and then opened it, "Hi Mom."

"Oh sweetheart," said Vicki and she got up and gave her a big hug. "And John," she said giving him the same warm greeting. "I'm glad I'm getting to see you before you head up to the cabin."

"We are too," said Natalie as she looked over to John and he gave her a grin, "Mom—we wanted to tell you something, and we're hoping you this is good news for you. We know how much last November hurt when the truth was revealed about Ace not being Kelly or Kevin's, and he was sent back to his real mother. Well, I guess what we're trying to say is that you're going to be a Grandmother again soon," she smiled as she looked at John.

"Oh baby," said Vicki and she hugged them both tightly. "I'm so happy for you—this is wonderful news. When did you find out?"

"Last Saturday," answered John. "We called my mom first, since she's still on the Cruise boat, but we waited until we came up here to tell you."

"Well, I'm glad you did. How far along are you?"

"About seven weeks," answered Natalie.

"Oh, you two just have made my day with this," said Vicki as she hugged Natalie again. "Now, I want you to be extremely careful—the fact that Haver is around scares me even more knowing you are pregnant. Please take care of her, John."

"I'm not letting my family out of my sight," smiled John.

---------------

She walked off the elevator and took a look around and gave a slight smile as she saw a tall brunette male in a white coat talking to a shorter red haired girl. She put on a big smile as she walked towards them, "Hi—you must be Michael, John's brother."

"Uhm, yes I am--," said Michael, unsure of who the woman in front of him was—though she seemed vaguely familiar.

"My name is Cairyn—I work with Natalie. Do you know where I can find her?"

"Well, they were staying at Antonio's, but I believe they already left."

"Left?"

"Yes—can I ask what this is about?"

Cairyn gave a slight chuckle, "Natalie was supposed to sign some papers before they went on their trip, and she left a day early—well, Adrienne just had to get her to sign these."

Something sounded fishy to Michael and when he looked at Marcie she had the same look on her face. What was so important they had someone drive all the way from Philadelphia for some simple signatures? "Well, if you give me the papers, I'll get them to her as soon as possible—it's just that where they are is kind of hard to get to at the moment."

"Oh—well, I suppose so. Let me just call Adrienne and make sure that it's ok," she said as she walked towards the terrace waiting area.

Michael went to the station and dialed Natalie's number, "Nat—hi."

"Hey Michael."

"Listen—do you have a co-worker named Cairyn?"

"Yeah, she's new—why?"

"She's here at the hospital looking for you—says you were supposed to sign some papers before vacation and you forgot. I'm uneasy though about giving her directions to the cabin."

Natalie laughed, "Just like a McBain—give her the directions, she's harmless."

"Ok then," he said hanging up the phone and seeing Marcie was still watching her. Suddenly Marcie came running over to tell him something, but before she had a chance Cairyn returned, "Natalie said it was ok to give you directions," he said as he wrote them down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. "Hope you can read doctor's handwriting—I tried to make it legible"

"Oh it's fine," she smiled and turned to leave.

"What did you want to tell me, Marcie?"

"Michael—how did she know you were John's brother?"

"She saw my name tag," he shrugged.

"She walked up to your right side, your nametag is on your left."

"Oh—oh—eww," he said as he saw the elevator had already gone down. He grabbed the phone and this time called John.

"McBain."

"Johnny—hey, tell me something--."

"Make it quick, Michael."

"In Natalie's office does she have a picture of me in the office?"

"No—why?"

"Well--,"

"Quit the stuttering and tell me, Mike."

"I may have just sent someone that is working with Haver . She said she worked with Natalie, and she does—but she knew who I was before she saw my nametag."

"Ok, don't worry about it—I'll take care of her and Haver if they show up," he said as he began to hang up the phone.

"Johnny--."

"Hmmm?"

"Be careful."

John gave a half laugh, "I will."

---------------

Sonia gave up on the paperwork—at least for now. It was just past lunchtime and she had been sitting in the chair of Antonio's office since John left earlier—after complaining to him how hard the beds were at the Hotel last night. He reminded her that he'd slept on one of those beds for ten months, "I don't see how you did it," she laughed as she walked in to see the place was empty—between having half the police force out trying to find Stephen Haver, the other half must still be at lunch, "Well, better late than never," she said as she went to tell Bo she was heading out for a bit. She knocked on the door and looked in--, "Gone too."

She gave a sigh and wrote a quick note on his desk, and another to leave on the Secretary's desk. Suddenly a shadow ahead of her caught her attention, "Hello? Who is there?" She followed the direction of whoever it was—telling them to stop, but they kept leading her through the station. She finally caught sight of his back and he went out the emergency exit that entered onto the parking lot, "Freeze Haver!"

Stephen took a look back at her, a sneering grin on his face as he pushed open the door and ran. Sonia ran just as fast as him and saw him jump into a close car and begin to speed off. She ran to her car—hoping she wasn't going to loose him in the lead that he had on her, though she had a pretty good idea as to where he was heading.

--------------

John got up to check the kitchen door, there were two entrances to the cabin—a front door, and a back door. Knowing Haver though, he wasn't sure which one he might use. It might not be Haver though that showed up first—it could be this Cairyn girl for all he knew.

Once he had Antonio take the girls down to pick up food he called Adrienne at home, asked her who this girl was exactly, but Adrienne couldn't give him much information—except to say that both her and Natalie had decided nothing more of the fact that she gave no work history on her resume after the past six years—Adrienne called her last employer and he had given big reviews of her. Now he figured the person Adrienne had talked to had been Stephen Haver.

There was a knock on the door, and John realized it was the moment of truth. He also knew that Haver wouldn't knock so he answered the door expecting a female blonde female, like Adrienne had described her as, "Hello Cai-tlyn."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Junior--you are such a sweetheart. Thank you for the kind words.

Cru and Jess--I enjoy reading your stories over at BoP, and glad you enjoy reading mine here.

And I'm sooo glad everyone liked the cliffhanger last time--even if it might have been obvious. Everyone enjoy--I've had this chapter in my mind for a very very long time. Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

John stood there in the open doorway with his mouth open and a million thoughts running through his head. Was he dreaming? Was he dead? Had his heart just suddenly stopped? No, because the damaged nerves in his abdomen shot through his whole body and brought him back to reality, "Is it really you?"

"Yes. Oh John," said Caitlyn and she threw her arms around him. Immediately, as if by instinct, John's arms went around her and he held onto her for a moment. Then he smelled the wildflowers and just as instantly he pulled back, "I thought you were dead."

"I did too," said Caitlyn, her eyes filling with tears. "I mean, I thought you were dead," she said as her hand went up to touch his face and he swiped it away. "What's wrong?"

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here because I'm finally coming home John. I'm finally able to get away from that madman, and start the life I've always wanted with you."

John's mind was spinning still, but he was able to point towards the couch and reached for his jacket and took out his pills, dry swallowing one before speaking, "Tell me what happened that night."

"I was shot, and you passed out. I was so scared John—I kept calling your name, over and over, but you wouldn't wake up. Then this man, he came in and said he was going to help us and gave me a shot. When I woke up-I was in this dark room, and for weeks I had a nurse and doctor come in and check on me. It was always the same nurse-I didn't know what day of the week it was, or if it was noon or midnight.

"I was so scared—I couldn't understand why you and Kathy weren't trying to find me."

John fully came back to reality when she mentioned Kathryn, "Because we thought you were dead. God, Caitlyn—if I had ever in a million years thought you were alive this whole time I would have tried to find you."

"Instead of moving on with your life?" asked Caitlyn with hurt in her voice.

The words stung, but he knew she had no idea what he had put himself through in the past seven years—that he had put the reason for her death as his stupidity and selfishness from when he was younger. "I put myself through hell Caitlyn, and it took a lot for me to finally realize it was ok to move on."

"Yeah right."

John didn't want a fight so he went into the kitchen and pulled out his cell phone and dialed quickly, "Hey."

"Hey," said Antonio. "We're almost done here."

"Great. Uhm—listen, when you get here I'm going to need you to not come in the cabin, I'll come up with something for you to go back down and get. Can you take Jess with you?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea for dinner, John. Let me go get that," said Antonio as he looked at the girls before walking down one of the aisles, "Give me something for dinner and tell me what's going on."

John laughed, "How about stir fry? Get a bag of frozen vegetables, but forget the rice."

"Smart man. Now what's up? You were supposed to meet that Cairyn girl—did she show up?"

John chuckled again as he opened the kitchen door a bit to see her still sitting there, "I wouldn't believe this if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but Caitlyn Fitzgerald is sitting in the living room right now. You there?"

"I—uhm—yeah. How are you holding up?"

"Going crazy, ready to pop down a bottle of these pills, wondering how I tell this to Natalie without stressing her out too much. Plus that and she doesn't seem to understand I mourned for her for so long."

"Too long—you did your share of mourning, just like Natalie did hers—you two belong together, like it's supposed to be."

"Would you be saying that if Cristian walking in the door?"

"Yeah, I would be. We'll be there soon," said Antonio as he hung up the phone. John looked at his phone and thought of someone else to call while waiting on Natalie to return.

-------------

"Love you too, Mom," said John as he hung up the phone while standing on the front porch. His mom had answered a few questions he had—at the funeral there had been a closed casket, and the same at the wake at the funeral home the day before. When he had told Eve that Caitlyn was alive her first response was shock, and then she told him something he needed to hear—even if he had been with Caitlyn this whole time, Eve was sure he would have met and ended up with Natalie. He had laughed at her, but the thought intrigued him for a moment.

A smile lit up his face as he saw Antonio's car pull up the driveway and park next to the truck. He walked down the steps slowly and opened the door for Natalie, helping her out of the car and pulled her towards him, "Hi," he said softly before giving her a kiss.

"Hi," she smiled, "I hear we're having stir fry for dinner."

"Yeah, did you all get rice?" asked John as he looked at Antonio.

"No," said Antonio as he tried to read his expressions, but he knew it was useless. "Jess and I will run back down and grab a box—let's get the perishables in the house though," said Antonio as Natalie and John grabbed some bags and he handed off one to Jessica. When Jess tried to continue into the house he grabbed her wrist and shook his head—leaving the groceries on the door step and leaving.

-----------

Sonia had no clue where she was—except for somewhere on the side of Llantano Mountain. She had caught up to Haver at one point, but now he was probably a good quarter mile ahead of her—just enough so she could see a flash of his silver car every few moments. She suddenly put on the brakes and jumped out to see his car was parked on the side of the road. She walked up slowly to see the car was abandoned—they were close to the cabin, the question was who would get there first?

-----------

Natalie smiled as she walked in and continued on to the kitchen, "Hi Cairyn. I hope John was being hospitable while you were waiting for me."

"Oh, he was such a gentleman," she said as she kept her eye contact with John who was giving her a look that read as clear as day for her to keep quiet.

"Did Jess and Antonio already leave?" asked Natalie as she went to get the rest of the groceries off the front porch and closed the door behind her. When she returned to the room she finally felt the tension in the room. "John?"

"Hmm? Yeah, they left," he said as he pulled Natalie towards him and kept his hand on her hip.

"What's going on? Did I miss something here?"

"Cairyn," he said with a cough, "I believe you have something to tell my wife?" he said as he tipped his head towards Natalie.

Natalie looked at John and then to Cairyn and her mind went right back to the first time she'd met her—when she was holding the wedding picture. There had been something in her eyes that day, something that had screamed at Natalie that day and was screaming at her again now. "Oh my--," she said as John moved her towards a chair and sat her down in it.

"Babe? You ok?"

"I'm—are you? Is she?" she asked, looking at Caitlyn and then at John and he nodded slowly. A sudden rush of anger filled Natalie, "Do you realize what he went through? Do you realize he couldn't sleep at night because to close his eyes meant he might dream of that night again? He was cold, and showed very few emotions—he threw himself into his work so he didn't have time for a personal life—didn't have time to possibly feel anything ever again. And Kathryn--," said Natalie as she looked at John. One night Natalie had asked what Kathryn had been like before, and now she had a much better idea of the woman that had been killed by Sonia Toledo when it was realized she was a dirty agent.

"You met my sister? What is she like now, John? Is she still happy?"  
  
"No," he said softly.  
  
"When I met Kathryn she was cold-she was unfeeling, maybe with time she would have warmed up again. I wasn't the easiest person to get along with at the time," she laughed slightly and then went rigid, "Kathryn was murdered."  
  
"She was-my sister is dead?" she asked in shock.  
  
"Kathryn got sucked into some bad stuff at the end. I wanted to help her-the night she died I told her I'd help her. She didn't want my help though, what she wanted was to not feel anything anymore. She knew I'd always helped her, but she was too far in-do you know how it felt Caitlyn? It was because of me I thought both of you were dead-I couldn't save either of you," he said, screaming the last part. Natalie's hand went onto his shoulder and he instantly relaxed.

John looked over at Natalie and she just smiled at him, "I need to put the groceries up."

"Ok, I'll be there to help you in a few," he said as he watched her stand up and leave the room, while she wondered how long until her legs gave way. John was quiet for a few minutes as he watched Caitlyn's mind process everything that had just been told to her. He finally got up to go talk to Natalie in private, taking a look back at Caitlyn before walking in. He immediately froze—the freezer door was open and a container of ice cream laid on the floor. He looked over to see the back door was open also, and as he took a step outside he felt something under his feet and looked down to see he was standing on a red leotard.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Ok, this was originally one very very long chapter, but taking artistic liberty I decided to split it into 2. I'll post the 2nd chapter tonight or in the morning—when my mind is not in Wedding-overdrive. Everyone enjoy! Until next time—PCGirl.

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John's first instinct was to start running, he stepped out further from the cabin to see if he could spot them, but there was no luck. He turned to get his cell phone when he saw the small white envelope taped to the side of the cabin. He sighed as he saw his name on it and recognized the handwriting as Haver's. He began to reach for it, but then heard the front door slam and he ran into the living room to see Caitlyn was gone.

"Great," he sighed as he went to open the door and saw her running down the driveway, "Caitlyn—wait!" he yelled as he began running after her. Seeing her again he had completely forgotten that he thought she was working with Haver, correct that—he _knew _she was working with Haver.

Caitlyn looked back to see John was catching up to her so she ran into the woods instead of taking the safe path down. She could hear him calling her name, but she couldn't let him catch her.

John was almost to her in the woods when he suddenly he landed on the ground, a deep pain in his foot. He tried to stand up, but as he did the pain grew and he sat back down finding a pine cone near him and throwing it as far as he could—how could he have allowed this to happen? Suddenly he heard noise in the distance and starting hollering. Soon he looked around the tree and grinned at seeing Sonia Toledo escorting a now cuffed Caitlyn up towards him.

"Sitting down on the job, John?" asked Sonia who let go of Caitlyn for the moment and helped John up.

"Don't worry about me," he said as he groaned again and let go of Sonia and leaned against the tree.

"Yeah right. Antonio is on his way up—Kevin is meeting him and taking Jessica to stay with her Grandfather. What were you two running from?"

"That's what I'd like to know," said John as he glared at Caitlyn, "You were running—why? Did you know Haver was sneaking around the back while my defenses were down at seeing you? Did you?" he yelled as they heard a car pull up and saw Antonio stepping out of the car.

"Antonio—I need you to take this woman in for questioning in the disappearance of Natalie McBain," said Sonia as she handed Caitlyn off to him and he walked back to the car. "And you—you and I are going to take a visit to the hospital for that ankle," she said as John opened his mouth to argue.

"Either that or we'll leave you in the woods right now," she said with a wink as Antonio came back over to help John to the car.

---------------

"What does the report say?" asked Antonio as he walked into Bo's office from filling out paperwork for Caitlyn.

"The silver Acura RSX that Sonia followed was rented from Philly to a Cairyn Fitz."

"That's Caitlyn—or the name that she was giving Adrienne and Natalie at the Center. So now we know they are working together."

"Right. There's another car though—whatever Caitlyn rented to get up to the cabin because I know she didn't walk two miles up Llantano Mountain. Has she said anything about another car?" 

"I asked, she says she's only going to talk to John and nobody else. So what did the letter say?" asked Antonio as Bo passed it over and Antonio read it, "Johnny, I told you someone might still be alive, or someone else is dead that you don't know about. I guess you found out the truth now. Haver." Antonio looked up at Bo and tossed the letter onto the desk, "That's typical Haver for you."

"Yeah, and I know John's going to be kicking himself when he reads it also. Call Sonia and tell her to come back here after they are done at the hospital instead of going off to search for Haver. Caitlyn Fitzgerald is the key to finding Natalie," he said shaking his head as he realized and the only way to get information out of Caitlyn was John was going to have to put on a hell of an act.

----------------

"Damn it Sonia—if you don't let go of me this instant!" screamed John as they walked off the elevator and onto a crowded floor.

"Hey—what's the problem?" asked Michael as he ran over with a wheel chair.

"I don't need a stupid wheelchair," said John as he pushed it away. "What I need is—Oww!" he screamed as he tried to turn to the elevator on his bad foot.

"Ok, that's it—when the doctor says sit you sit. So sit!" said Michael in a forceful tone as he shoved John into the chair and wheeled him to the nearest room. "What happened? Where is Natalie?"

"Natalie is—he's got her."

"He? Haver—how?"

"It's my fault," said Sonia quietly. "I wasn't quick enough in catching him."

"No, it's not your fault—I was the one who let her go into the kitchen alone."

"Wait—can someone please start from the beginning? Sorry," grimaced Michael as he turned John's foot slightly and John groaned.

"It's ok—I've felt worse. Cairyn—the girl you sent up there—her real name is Caitlyn."

Michael stopped what he was doing and looked at John, "Caitlyn? Your Caitlyn?"

John nodded.

"Wait—what do you mean by your Caitlyn?" asked Sonia.

"Caitlyn—my fiancé that was dead. You killed her sister Kathryn remember."

"Oh—and I thought the Santi's were an odd story," she said with a slight grin.

"So Caitlyn came in and dropped the bomb? How did Haver find the cabin though?"

"He followed her—Natalie went to put away the groceries, and when I went in there to help and she was gone, a red leotard was at the back door—I go back into the kitchen and Caitlyn already had a head start out the front door—I was chasing her and then this happened."

"I came up and caught her."

"Yeah, well I need to get back out there on the search. How's it look Doc?"

"Well, it's sprained—but at least you didn't pull a me and break your leg entirely."

"Just give me the crutches—I've already got the pain killers," he said half jokingly with a wink to Michael.

"There's the Johnny I know," laughed Michael. "Nat's going to be ok John—she's a strong girl."

"I know—it's just not only her now—we're pregnant," he said with a big grin.

"What?"

"Yeah—we found out last week. We've been telling everyone in person—we were going to tell you earlier, but we were running late."

"Well, let me get those crutches and you'll be on your way."

---------------

Natalie had given up trying to get out of here, and given up yelling for help also--she knew nobody was out there--except for Haver. He had been playing classical music through the speakers awhile ago and she started singing Material Girl and then followed it up with Girls Just Want to Have Fun and a few others before he finally turned off the music.

She jumped when she heard the click of the lock on the other side and squinted for a good minute when the rush of light came in and she saw his form standing there, "What now?"

"I just wanted to see if you needed anything. You have to stay strong now that you are caring for two," he grinned at her.

Natalie's temper on the inside rose though she got a chill down her arms from the realization he had somehow found out she was pregnant. She stared him straight in the eye, "What do you want?"

"Just to talk. What do you think Johnny Boy and Caitlyn are doing right now? I don't say talking about because I doubt there's any talking being done," said Stephen as he leaned back against the wall and just smiled.

"You think what you want to think Haver, but I know the truth. John loves me now, and you can bring back as many dead people and keep throwing them in our face, but we will always be together. Always!" she screamed

"Are you sure? I mean they were engaged at one point, and seemed so in love those few days that I watched them before killing Caitlyn," he said as he watched Natalie say nothing and decided leave her in the room with now thoughts of what if and uncertainty.

--------------

"You are really starting to get on my last nerve," sighed John as he came into the station on crutches with Sonia following closely behind.

"Hey—you couldn't exactly drive yourself."

"Yeah, and the deal was we look for Natalie—not come back here," he grumbled as they made their way into Bo's office, "How many guys you have out there looking for them?"

"Enough. Here, take the couch," said Bo as he moved off some stacks of paper for John to stretch out in. "How's it feel?"

"I've felt worse. So why did we have to come here?" he asked, looking up to Sonia and then to Bo.

"The car Haver drove half way up the mountain is not the one he took down. The car he also took up is registered to Cairyn Fitz."

"Caitlyn," he sighed as he rubbed his face. "And let me guess—she's only going to talk to me?"

"Yeah, you're going to have to sweet talk this info out of her. Are you up for it?"

"If you give me an ice pack for the ankle I'm up for anything—except for dancing," grinned John as he tried to stop worrying about Natalie and the baby for a few minutes in order to get some information out of Caitlyn.

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	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Ok, here is the last chapter for 2 weeks. I suggest you read it very very sloooowly, or wait a few days and then read this chapter.

Cru—I don't know how I'm getting through writing this close to the wedding. This weekend I wrote between 10 pm and when I go to bed and then when I get up til about 9 am if I'm lucky. Thanks for the suggestion—we'll try to find some alone time, even if it means taking the elevator up alone to the reception site. LOL

I wonder what gave me the idea for the last part of the chapter. Hmmm—no clue. LOL. You all enjoy this chapter, and I will "see" you again in a few weeks.

Until next time—PCGirl.

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John nodded to the guard who let him in the cell and closed it behind him. He looked at Caitlyn and smiled, "Hi."

"Hi."

"Listen, I need to talk to you about something," he said as he pulled a second chair over to elevate his foot with.

"If it's to tell me that we're through then forget it," she said as she looked down at her hands.

"No, it's not that at all. I'm sorry I yelled at you before, it's just that I'm so confused. I loved you for a very long time Caitlyn, even after I thought you were dead. You have to know if I had every thought you were alive I would have come for you in an instant. I still love you Caitlyn."

"Not like you did before."

John put his head down and rubbed the back of his neck before looking at her, "I'm not so sure about that. When I saw you earlier, and held you for that moment—well, I felt something."

Caitlyn's head shot up immediately, "I did too. Oh, John. I wondered if it would still be there, it was—wasn't it?"

"Yes," he said as he touched the side of her face, wondering if Natalie ever found out about this if he'd live to see the next day caused a grin to appear on his face. "I want to make Haver pay for us loosing these years together. Tell me whatever you know."

"I don't know much. He was gone for months last year, and then he came back and said I was free to go. He gave me this box with newspaper clippings of you through the years, but I wasn't sure if you were still here in Llanview. I was trying to decide what to do when I was sent a clipping of your engagement announcement. She's pretty—Natalie."

John looked down at the floor, Michael and Eve had joked with him in the past that whenever someone started talking about Natalie his eyes lit up so he figured it was best to not look at Caitlyn at the moment. "So what made you come here?" he asked as she filled him in on the rest of the information, that she hadn't been planning on getting swept up with Stephen Haver again—that her original plan was to actually confront John in Philly, and when she realized they were leaving for London she thought she needed to act fast. The night before Haver had showed up at her hotel room—they talked some, but she never had actually planned on leading Haver straight to John and Natalie. John wondered why she was lying—she had to know he knew the truth from Adrienne, that her former employer was probably Haver, unless she had paid someone else to vouch for her. He shook off thoughts and stood up, "Well, I'm going to go talk to them about releasing you."

"Will you come see me again tonight?"

"Of course," he said as he gave her a gentle kiss on the lips before leaving the room. When he had reached outside he saw Antonio standing there with a grin on his face, "What?"

"You said you were going to play with her head, not fall in love again. Do you realize what that looked like to anyone who didn't know better?"

"Yeah, that was the idea," laughed John as he kept on walking, ready to talk to Sonia and Bo about the next step.

--------------

"Ok, little one—we need to get to sleep," said Natalie as she closed her eyes again and began slowly rubbing her stomach in small circles. "I know what will get us both to sleep—a bedtime story. Is that what you want?" she laughed looking down at her stomach and thinking this was ridiculous because she knew it'd be weeks until the baby could hear.

"So what do we want to talk about tonight? Your dad? Ok, I'll tell you about the day we got married. It wasn't too long ago—we had it Grandma Viki's house on New Years Eve. The night before I had stayed at Llanfair, but the next day I remember standing in front of this big oval mirror right before I went down--."

"_I'll be right back, Nat," smiled Jessica as she closed the door behind her. Natalie took a final look in the mirror and she gave out a long sigh before hearing a soft knock on the door, "Hello?"_

"_Natalie," said John from the other side._

"_John—what are you doing—you can't see me before the wedding," she said as she came over to the door and stood right on the other side._

_John gave a half laugh, "I know—I just figured if I heard your voice these butterflies would go away."_

"_Butterflies—John McBain has butterflies?" she laughed._

"_Yeah—imagine that. How are you holding up?"_

"_I'm fine—I was just thinking how much I changed since I moved here. So do you have your vows ready?"_

"_Yeah, their in the inside pocket of this penguin suit," he said as he tapped his jacket pocket and felt the small card on the other side—though he doubted he'd need to remember anything he wanted to tell her soon._

"_I'm sure you look just as handsome as ever," she gave a half sigh._

"_Is something wrong?"_

"_I think if I keep hearing your voice and not seeing your face soon them I'm going to have to open up this door."_

"_Well, here comes Jessica anyways—I better get out of here before she burns me at the stake. I love you."_

"_I love you too."_

------------------

John tossed on the couch—it had been comfortable the night before when Natalie was next to him—but now Antonio and Jessica's pullout bed was as hard as a rock. He remembered the last time he had slept on this couch without Natalie—it had been the night before the wedding. They had talked for hours that night though—until almost 2 am when Jamie woke up and John and Natalie finally decided they might want to go to sleep.

He closed his eyes and began thinking of their wedding day and shortly falling asleep and dreaming of it.

_John stood up at the front of the room with Antonio and Michael standing next to him as they watched first Marcie and then Jessica walk down the aisle and take their places. He gave a loud sigh as the doors opened and Natalie stood there in the doorway with Clint on one side and Rex on the other. She walked slowly, her eyes locked with John's. They each gave her a kiss on the cheek and sat down next to Viki and Roxy. "Hi," he whispered out as he stared at her._

"_Are we ready?" asked Joey and they nodded as the ceremony began. They stood there looking straight at Joey, occasionally glancing at each other, grinning when they caught the other one looking. _

"_And you have written vows?"_

"_Uhm, yes," said John as he took out his vows he had written down and took a glance at them before beginning to speak, "Natalie. When I first came to town I believe I could best be described as an unfeeling, unemotional statue. That first day when I walked into Crossroads looking for you—I began to change that day. I had put up a wall inside my heart—one that was harder to get into than Fort Knox, but somehow that day you just walked right into my heart," said John as tears began to form in Natalie's eyes as she realized she'd heard this speech before. _

"_Then slowly, as time went on your broke down that barrier, from the inside. You could have walked away and I wouldn't have blamed you, but you didn't and I'm glad for that. Today I'm promising you that I'll always be there with you—from this day on and until we're old and gray, sitting on a rocking chair with grandchildren and their children," he said as Natalie gave out a slight laugh as he had made a comment like that not so long ago._

"_I love you Natalie—and I know that as long as we're together nothing will break us apart."_

_Natalie wiped the tears from her eyes before speaking, "John. When you first came to town I hated you—I hated what you did to my life. But then I slowly realized you weren't like everyone else—you were letting me grieve in my own way, allowing me to tell you how I really felt, and at times allowing me to tell you where I thought you should go," she said as John laughed at the memory._

"_In the end though I thanked you for that—and as time went on I began to love you for that. I loved you for the way you made me feel safe, and your trust—that's the most important thing ever. So today I'm promising that I will forever be yours—and I know wherever we are that the safety you bring me will wrap around me like a big blanket."_


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Wow, I'm just a busy little bee today getting my two stories updated within hours of each other. The wedding was beautiful and the honeymoon was great. I'm going to dedicate this chapter to Gracie and Jess--who are both mourning their boys in pinstripes loss the other night.

Everyone enjoy--Until next time--ya'll are the best--PCGirl.

* * *

"Should we wake him up?" whispered Jessica as she stood there in the kitchen with Antonio.

"I don't know. Him being asleep might be a good thing," he chuckled and took a sip of his coffee. It was after nine in the morning and John was still asleep on the couch, his arms wrapped around a pillow that they could only imagine that to a sleeping John was Natalie.

Jessica grinned as she went to get ready for being escorted to the Banner this morning, and then to either Llanfair or Asa's in the afternoon. Antonio bit his lip for a moment and got out a second coffee cup and filled it—putting in some sugar that he knew John would be asking for if he didn't. He walked over and placed the cup as close to the edge of the end table as possible and watched as she John began to stir in a few seconds, "Thanks babe," he said as he reached for it and then looked over at Antonio who was now grinning at him.

"You're welcome—babe."

"Shut up," said John as he grinned and took a sip of the coffee, "You get this recipe from the station?"

"At least this whole ordeal hasn't made you lose your dry sense of humor."

"The only thing dry right now is my mouth—I feel like I've been sleeping for a week," said John as he sat up and they began discussing the strategy for the day.

-------------

_Natalie_

"mmmm."

_Natalie_

"Just a few more minutes John—please."

_My darling wife Natalie—it's time to wake up._

Those words made Natalie sit straight up on the cot she was on. It hadn't been John's voice she was hearing calling her name. It hadn't been Cristian's either. She rubbed her arms and cooled the goose bumps off—maybe it was her imagination. What had she been dreaming about just a moment ago?

No, it wasn't her imagination or a dream—the voice that had just woken her up was Mitch Laurence. He was dead though—she said a short prayer that he was truly dead. Anything was possible at the moment. She sat in the bed for a few minutes until she heard the intercom come on again, "Good morning Mrs. McBain. Did you enjoy your wakeup call a few minutes ago?"

"I don't know how you did that and I really don't care," she screamed.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Now in a few short minutes you are going to be getting tired again. Don't fight it though Natalie—if your lucky and he truly does love you more than Caitlyn—well you might get to see John when you wake up," said Haver as the intercom clicked off but soon she heard something else click on. She continued to sit there as her eyes got heavier, and just before she dozed off she saw the door open and someone come in.

------------------

"I'm still not understanding how she escaped," said John as he rubbed his head while sitting in Bo's office with Antonio and Sonia. Antonio had received the call about Caitlyn's escape earlier in the morning, but waited until they were walking out the door to the Station.

"The video tape was removed after she escaped. The only thing we can figure out is that Haver has one of the night guys under his influence. We've got the guys searching dumpsters nearby and if necessary we'll get search warrants for their homes."

"We're going to get both of them, John," said Sonia as she noticed the worried look on his face.

"You'd think he'd have called by now. He's setting something up, and it's going to be big," he said as Sonia's cell phone began to ring.

"Agent Toledo," she answered as she stood up and leaned against the door, tapping once to let the guys outside begin to attempt a trace.

"It's a pleasure to finally get to meet you, Ms. Toledo. Tell me—are you as smart of a cop as John there?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. Who may I ask is calling?"

"I'm sorry—how rude of me. I'm Stephen Haver—may I speak to John McBain?"

"He wants to speak to you," she said with raised eyebrows.

"Where is she?"

"Who—Caitlyn?"

"No you jerk—my wife, Natalie."

"Oh, Natalie—well why didn't you just ask," said Stephen Haver as he gave John an address and then hung up.

John handed the address over to Sonia with a sigh, "That was _way _too easy."

---------------

Natalie's head was groggy as she opened her eyes and was taken aback—it was as if she was in John's old hotel room—the bedspread, the dresser, the wallpaper was all the same. "You really are a quack, Haver," she yelled as she got up and moved the curtains back to see that the windows were fake. She then went to the bathroom door and realized it was locked. Was she really at the Angel Square Hotel or was this some weird joke of a mad man?

She pulled open the second drawer of the dresser and gasped—taking out one of the pictures of John and Caitlyn that he had kept in that drawer a year before when he still lived here.

Natalie jumped and dropped the photo back into the drawer as she heard the door open and turned to see Caitlyn come in and lock the door behind her, "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure I get my fiancé back," said Caitlyn as she began walking towards her.

"You lost him Caitlyn. It wasn't too long ago either—just a little over a year. Before that he would wake up every morning and open this drawer and see your picture," she said as she removed the picture again.

"Don't you get it Caitlyn? You had been dead five years—five whole years—and he still thought of you everyday. He still wished you here—and there was no way to get him to move on. Somehow—I brought him back to life, and I've staked claim on him now and there is no way in hell I'm letting him go."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you," said Caitlyn as she gave Natalie an evil grin before walking back out of the room.

----------------

Antonio turned the corner and stopped for the iron gates to open—Sonia, Bo, and half of the Police force were following behind them. He looked over to see John's face was ashen. "You ok?"

"I'm—give me a second," he said as he rubbed his face as they continued down the driveway and finally reached the main building. "I was hoping I was wrong," he sighed.

"What is it? Have you been here before?"

John laughed, "In my dreams. This building is identical to the Retreat Center Natalie went to last year. I once had this dream—I had to run to find Natalie, and at one point Caitlyn was calling my name also. He got into my nightmare and made it become a reality."


	12. Chapter 12

John nodded to Antonio as they opened the front doors of the building with their guns drawn before entering. As they walked in the front doors slammed behind them and they looked at each other as if asking what the next step was. There was a door to the right and to the left, John thought for a moment and went towards the right, checking the door to see it was locked.

"What are you doing?" whispered Antonio as he checked his door and it was locked also.

John shook his head at the memory of his dream, "Nothing—just a hunch. So now what, Haver?" he called as suddenly a curtain went up in front of them and Haver stood there on the other side behind a piece of glass—grinning at the two men below him.

"Alright, let's have a show of hands—who missed me? Nobody? Well, I'm hurt. So here's your job, Johnny boy—you have 2 minutes before I set this place on fire—I guess it'll be pretty hard to get out of here in five, so you get to choose—Natalie or Caitlyn? You can only be a hero to one John—take your pick," he said as they heard the doors unlock and John went running—he wasn't sure if Antonio had followed him or was going through the other door to find Haver, but he kept running.

Almost there he could hear Caitlyn calling his name and a shiver went up his spine at remembering this part of the dream from before. "Natalie," he called out.

"John?"

"Hey—I'm coming," he said running towards her door—smoke beginning to fill the room. "It's locked," he said as he tried to kick it open with no luck. When his foot hit the ground he heard something slide behind him.

"John?" she coughed on the other side.

"Hey—I found some keys. Give me a minute."

"It's—getting—hard—to—breathe," she coughed out.

"I need to you to remain calm, Babe," he said as he fumbled with the keys trying one after another. "Hey—remember when we were at that small hotel in the middle of nowhere? What was it you kept calling it?" he asked with a laugh, figuring this would keep her calm.

"I called it The Bates Motel," she laughed as she listened to him try one key after another. "I seriously don't know what you saw in that place when you looked it up online," she said as she remembered why he took there in the first place. It had been mid-October last year, right around the one year mark of Cris' death and he had realized what she was feeling so he had taken her on a secret weekend getaway. When they had reached the place they found out they were the only guests in a small Upstate New York Inn that hadn't been updated since the early 1970's.

"Ok, I made a small mistake in picking out a place by looks alone—I made up for it with our honeymoon though," he laughed while thinking about the place, "I remember you wouldn't let me leave you alone in that room—not even for a second," he laughed as he felt the door click and he breathed a sigh of relief, coughing instantly afterwards. "Ok Nat—I'm going to open the door, but it's pretty smoky out here so I want you to cover your mouth with your shirt sleeve."

"Ok," she said as he opened the door and she hugged him tightly. "I was so scared."

"I know, so was I," he said as he pulled her back and they began walking out.

"John," said Antonio as he came around the corner.

"Where's Haver?"

"He's not a problem. Let's get out of here," said Antonio as he took Natalie's side.

"Wait—take her out, I've got to get Caitlyn," said John as he coughed some.

"No, it's too late—this place is going to be burning in a minute. Come on John," said Antonio as he grabbed Natalie's arm.

"John," she said softly as she turned to see him through the smoke.

John could see the fear in her eyes. "Hey—it's ok. I'll be right behind you all, I promise," he said giving her a kiss and a nod to Antonio before he turned and went off in the other direction.

Natalie didn't budge as Antonio moved, "Can we wait for him?"

"No, let's go—he'll be right behind us remember? You'll see him when he comes on," said Antonio as he took her arm and lead her out of the maze of smoke, mirrors, and fake doors. But Natalie didn't see John come out—halfway to the door the smoke overcame her and Antonio had to carry her the rest of the way.

-------------------

Natalie opened her eyes slowly to see she was now in a hospital bed. She looked around slowly and saw the room had some flowers on a table though nobody was around. Voices outside the room caught her attention and she sat there listening to them.

"Poor thing," said one woman quietly. "Did you know she lost her last husband not even two years ago? He gave up his life to save her and now this."

"That's awful—and now for it to happen again."

"I guess it would have helped if she hadn't lost the baby--."

"NO!" screamed Natalie as she sat straight up in the bed from the dream. She looked next to her to see John waking up from her screaming. "John."

"Hey, I'm right here," he said as he jumped up from the chair and went to sit down next to her on the bed. "Are you ok? Do I need to get Michael?" he asked as he ran his hands over her hair.

"No, I just—I had a dream that it was happening again. That I lived and my husband died—damn it John! You could have been killed tonight by not leaving the building when we did!" she screamed as she became aware of her surroundings and her feelings again.

John grinned at what she was saying, "I know, but I'm not Cris. I made it out safely and I'm not going anywhere every again, ok?"

Natalie nodded quietly and bit her lip, "I'm kinda thirsty—can you get me some water?"

"Sure, whatever you want sweetheart," he said giving her a kiss on the forehead before getting up and leaving. When he had left Natalie leaned her head back and gave a loud sigh of relief.


	13. Chapter 13

Natalie wondered where John was and her mouth opened as Michael walked in carrying her cup of water, "Wrong McBain."

"Yeah, sorry—John had some police emergency to deal with. I guess that's what you get for being the former head detective and coming for a simple visit," winked Michael as he handed the water over.

"Simple visit my foot," she said before taking a sip of water. "So when do I get to leave this joint?"

"Well, everything looks fine for both you and the baby," he said as he looked at the chart and then up to see an expression of shock on her face, "Johnny told me—hope you aren't mad."

"No, not at all," she said as she ran her hand over her stomach. "Did you hear that little one? Uncle Michael says we're fine."

Michael couldn't help but smiling, "Yeah, well Uncle Michael would like you to stay the night in the hospital just to be safe—is that ok?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, well I have a few more rounds to make—you need anything?"

"No, I think we're just fine," she smiled at Michael before he left and decided she'd rest her eyes some until John came back.

----------------

John walked off the elevator and nearly ran into Antonio, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I've got to go to the station—they want my statement on what happened with me and Haver. I take it that Michael gave you the SOS?" grinned Antonio.

"Yeah—and wipe that damn grin off your face. I got myself into this and I'll get myself out."

"Yeah, but what about when Natalie catches wind of this—and you know she will," smiled Antonio as he hit the elevator button and the doors closed.

"I'll deal with the Spanish Inquisition when it comes," he said under his breath as he turned and walked towards the burn unit. He had been almost back to the room when Michael and come up to say there was an emergency.

Caitlyn had woken up and become delirious, saying she had to find her fiancé—that he was locked in a burning building. When the nurses and cop on guard had calmed her down she said she had to see John—she'd pull all her bandages off and leave here if he didn't come up. So here he was—standing outside her door, when he knew exactly where he should be—with Natalie.

When he walked in she was asleep and for a moment his mind went to another time, a time where he would have wanted to see her alive again, but not now—not when he found the person that had pulled him out of the darkness he'd encircled himself in. He thought about turning and leaving the room before she saw him there, but just as he thought that her eyes opened and he forced himself to give a fake smile as he went and took a seat near her bed.

-------------

The opening of the door was what woke Natalie up the next morning. She gave a sleepy smile at seeing her sister walking in, "Hi."

"Morning, sleepyhead. I came by to take you home."

"Where's John?"

"Taking a shower. Antonio forgot about him and just woke him up a little while ago. He said he'd meet us for lunch at Rodi's if you are up to it."

"Yeah, where was he last night anyways? He never did come back here."

"Oh—he just had something requested of him," said Jessica as she realized Natalie didn't know the truth.

"How's my favorite sister-in-law?" smiled Michael as he walked into the room with papers to sign. "Johnny never made it back down last night?"

"Back down from where, Michael?"

"Nowhere."

"You two are both lying—and I know I'm not going to like this answer so just spit it out before I scream."

Jessica looked at Michael and sighed before telling her, "Caitlyn woke up in a delirium and was threatening to cause harm to herself if John didn't go up there. Antonio had planned to get John out of the room last night, but after writing out his paperwork about Haver he forgot and came home and went to sleep."

"And John?"

"Slept in Caitlyn's room all night," answered Michael. "But that doesn't matter—what matters is you get to go home now."

"Right. It doesn't matter," smiled Jessica though she could tell it mattered to Natalie.

------------------

John sighed as he got off the elevator and saw his brother, "Mike."

"Hey—what's up?"

"Have you seen Natalie? Jessica said they went to Rodi's to meet Antonio and me there and she said she left something in her room and then never came back."

"I saw her awhile ago—asked her where she was going and she said home. I figured she meant Llanfair or Antonio and Jessica's."

"Yeah, well I checked those two places," sighed John.

"You don't think she meant Philly, do you?"

-----------------

Natalie stood there with her purse on her shoulder, "Listen—I'm really glad you were able to pick me up earlier.  I know part of the plea agreement last year said you couldn't enter Llanview or Pine Valley, but I just really needed to get home.  And you always were one for a little excitement," she laughed as she saw a smile crack on his face. 

"We didn't get caught though.  Do I owe you anything for the flight?" she asked as he shook his head no.  "Well, I guess this is it—thanks again," she said giving him a big hug and kiss on the cheek before turning to go into the airport and seeing Adrienne standing there, "Hey."

"Hey—who was that?" she asked, tilting her head towards the guy now getting back onto the helicopter she'd come in on.

"A good friend.  Thanks for picking me up."

"I was a little surprised you were coming back without John."

"Well, he's the reason I'm coming back," she said giving Adrienne a look to tell her to change the subject.

-------------------

John stood up a little taller and took in a deep breath of air and walked up to the door.  Caitlyn had used the delirious stall tactic earlier to keep from being questioned by another officer and he had it up to here with it. 

He still had no clue where Natalie was, except he'd left Adrienne a message to call him when she got back to her desk.  He knew it was odd for Adrienne to not be at her desk at this hour, so he was pretty much certain she was picking Natalie up.

He walked in and his eyes turned an icy blue at the sight of Caitlyn, "We need to talk."

"Oh, John—I'm so glad you came back.  I was thinking, when they finally release me maybe we could go on a nice vacation."

"No, there won't be a nice vacation," he said as he walked to the end of the bed and began tapping the foot of it.

"But John--."

"Listen.  I'm sorry I strung you along before, I'm sorry but everything I said was a lie.  If it had been just a year ago I would have still been waiting for you, but Caitlyn—I've moved on from us and I'm with Natalie.  I love her—she helped me live again and I can never repay her for doing that.  Plus she's having my child," he said with a smile that would light up a room.  He paused for a moment before continuing, "I called your parents—they are on a flight up here to Llanview and I've arranged for you to have one of the best lawyers in town to represent you.  I have to go now.  Goodbye."  And with the last word he turned and tried to tune out her pleas for him to stay.  A few seconds later his phone began to ring and he answered it quickly, "McBain."

"Hey John—just returning your phone call," said Adrienne.

"Yeah, thanks.  You haven't heard from Natalie today, have you?"

"Well—I—uhm, yeah—I picked her up at one of the small airports earlier, why?"

"Airport?" he said outloud—he'd been expecting the train station.  Who could have given her a flight to an airport?  His mind clicked as to who and he continued talking in a calm tone, while anger began to rise inside of him, "Did she say who the guy was?"

"Just a friend."

"A friend," he chuckled as he looked up to the ceiling and walked around some.  "Did the _friend _have brown hair and wearing a brown bombers jacket?"

"Yeah—why?"

"No reason," he shrugged as he said his goodbyes and then hung up the phone.  "Damn it, Cramer," he sputtered as he hit the elevator button to leave and head back to Philly.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N:  Sorry it's a short one--I just like the ending of this chapter the way it is and don't want to add another scene.  Enjoy!  Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

Natalie stopped going over the reports at her desk when she heard the front door click open—she continued to stay silent as she listened to his end of the day rituals, throwing his suit jacket on the back of the couch and then walking into the bedroom—the beside drawer opening and placing his gun in the drawer.

She listened as she heard him go into the bathroom and heard nothing until the toilet flushed and the sink turn on and off in a quick 1-2 motion. If it had been any day she would have smiled, but instead she turned the chair towards the back wall so her back was facing him when he grabbed a beer out of the fridge and walked over to the partition.

"Natalie."

Goosebumps went up her spine, but she managed to keep the demeanor she was looking for, "I don't want to talk to you."

"Why?" asked John as he took a sip—watching her wriggle under the pressure they had given each other.

Natalie stopped what she was doing and sighed as she spun around to look at him, "Because—because I just don't."

John couldn't help but laughing, "Oh that's a great excuse—for a first grader."

"Stop laughing—I'm mad at you," she said as she got up and pushed past him.

"For?" he asked with a grin on his face, knowing the answer.

"You spending the night in Caitlyn's room. Why is she so needy to you John? I mean you haven't said anything to make her think you two aren't getting back together—or have you?"

"I made her believe that, but it was so I could figure out if she was working for Haver or not."

"Well, it was kind of obvious that she was."

"Yeah, well at least I didn't hitch a ride back to Philly with a baby snatcher."

Natalie bit her lip and grinned at him, "So—did you realize you still have feelings for your ex-lover?" She watched his eyes narrowed and she realized it was the wrong thing to say, "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. I had a long drive home, babe. And I had time to think of a lot of stuff in my life, and there's really only one conclusion I could come to," he stopped and saw the look in her eyes. He had figured out an entire speech halfway to Philly—where he again reminded her where she had brought him in the past year and that if it weren't for her he'd still be dead inside.

But in an instant he threw the speech out of his mind and took a few quick steps towards Natalie before covering her mouth with his. One hand went to the back of her neck and began tangling itself into her hair—the other on her waist, just underneath her shirt and touched her soft skin--a soft moan coming from between her lips that made him want to smile.

He began walking her backwards towards the bedroom door but changed course for a moment and pinned her against the wall—breaking contact and looking at her. "I--."

"Shut up, McBain," she said as she over powered him long enough so he was on the floor beneath them and straddled herself over him also in one quick move. They each had something to prove to the other one—and nothing else at the moment mattered except what they needed to prove.

--------------------

"How did we get here again?" asked Natalie as she laid face down into a pillow, her bare leg draped over John's body.

"Where—the bed?" he laughed as he rubbed her leg.

"That—and back to our apartment—away from everything in Llanview."

"I guess it was just second nature. We needed to get out of there—there's too much going on right now," he said as he put his hand over his eyes for a moment and removed it to see she had moved her head to look at him.

"Don't you think Caitlyn might be asking for you soon?"

"No," he said as he shook his head and looked upwards. "I told her it was over—I told her it was a ploy and I love you. I called her parents and told them where she was and she was alive," he said with a chuckle.

"What? Did they not believe you?"

"Claudia answered the phone—she's, uhm, uppity."

"Kinda like Dorian?"

John laughed again, "I knew there was a reason I didn't like that woman. I've heard or seen Claudia cry two times since I've known her—when she came to my hospital room after Caitlyn's death and at Kathryn's funeral. Today was the third time."

"Wow—it must be a shocker to hear your child is alive after all these years."

"Yeah, when Clinton, their father, got on the phone I had to say it again. He said they'd be up there by this afternoon, but I told him I'd already be leaving."

"Wait—their names are Clinton, Claudia, Kathryn, and Caitlyn?" laughed Natalie. "Bless your heart—if you two would have had kids you would have to name them something like Caleb and China, or some other weird C or K name."

John couldn't help but grinning at her, "What's wrong with Caleb? I kind of like that name if we have a boy."

"Oh, I was hoping the name Ralph—or not," she said as he gave her a questionable look.

"There's only two things I care about—that the baby is healthy and that you don't go anywhere near Paul Cramer the last month of your pregnancy," he said with a quick wink and a grin on his face.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I want to know how the stupid IIC got into my head and twisted my idea for the ending of this story into their own sick version. Sigh. I've tried my hardest to de-cheesify this and wish now I'd posted this last year, and not now. If you are completely confused you won't be after the end of this chapter. Please believe me when I said I HAD THE IDEA FIRST! ;) Until next time—I think there's 1 more chapter, maybe 2—PCGirl.

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Natalie felt the side of the bed and sighed that it was empty—it meant it was time to get up and head to the center in a few minutes. She'd been enjoying the past week they were closed for the holiday's—but tomorrow they opened back up and she couldn't wait to see their faces when the kids saw the new pool table.

She looked at the clock and was shocked to see that it was nearly noon. A note sat on top of the alarm clock and she reached for it, and then put her arm back under the warm blankets—the apartment was just a bit too cold for her at the moment.

_Hey Babe. You looked so peaceful I turned your alarm off and figured you'd get up when your body was ready—you need to take it easier for you and the baby. Call me when you get done at the Center and we'll take some stuff to the house._

_John._

She smiled at thinking of the house her and John had closed on just a few weeks ago—it started with a trip out to Adrienne's and her unyielding comments about a house that was up for sale right around the corner from her. Natalie finally gave in and went to see what it looked like and fell in love with it immediately.

They had called Mac and he had agreed to let them buy back the pool table at Rodi's and put it in there—he said a table with that many memories for them deserved to be with it's rightful owners. She smiled at remembering Adrienne's husband Greg and John put it together last weekend—and then realized that if she hurried then maybe her and John could get a game in tonight after they moved stuff over there.

-----------------

Natalie pulled up the Center and pulled her coat tighter to brave the December air. A white car and the delivery van were already in the parking lot. Maybe the car belonged to one of the guys with the delivery company or it was Adrienne's sisters car—she'd said last night her sister was in town and she might borrow it to come down to work today.

She walked in and across the basketball court to see the men finishing up in the game room, "Hey—how'd you get in?"

"A co-worker of yours let us in. You must be Natalie," said the older man as he wiped his hand down and shook hers. "I'm Chuck."

"Hi Chuck. Sorry I'm late—my husband thought it was my best interest to sleep in today, he just didn't know how long I'd sleep," she said as she touched her stomach protectively.

"It's no problem. We're actually about to finish up here—we'll let you know when we leave."

"Ok, I'm going to my office—just call my name from the door entering the office area and I'll come see you out. Thanks so much again for doing this during the holiday period."

"No problem, the kids deserve this."

"Yes they do," she smiled and turned. When she got to the offices she was surprised to see the hallway light was off, "Hello? Adrienne?" she called as she flipped on the light. The hairs on her neck stood up, but she had no clue why as she continued down the hall and realized they were empty.

She went into her office and picked up the phone to call John to let her know they were almost done, but heard a noise outside in the hall. "Hello? Who is there? Adrienne? Susan?" she called out, thinking maybe it was another counselor that was there with her. Somebody had to let the men in. She heard the door open again and went out in the hall way, "Who—?"

"Sorry, ma'am. Didn't mean to scare you. But we're finished up here—we'll let ourselves out," smiled Chuck as he gave a brief hand wave and she watched the door close behind him.

She walked back to her desk and looked around—something was off and she realized her wedding picture was gone. "You are being paranoid, Natalie," she said as she grabbed her purse and picked up the phone to find it was dead. "Paranoid or not—I'm outta here," she said as she got her car keys out.

The basketball court lights were out—maybe Chuck turned them off as he left by accident. As her feet it the ground she realized she was stepping into something wet. She leaned down and took a sniff with her fingers—gasoline.

As she stood back up she finally saw the figure standing in the middle of the gym, "Stop—I've got a gun," she said as she fumbled with her purse—hoping they'd believe her. A match suddenly lit and the eerie shadows danced across the face just well enough for Natalie to see who it was. "Caitlyn."

"Maybe next time you decide to terminate an employee you should get their keys first," she laughed.

Natalie wished she could see her face better—but she was too scared to turn back and hit the lights—she could tell from her eyes she was gone—a shell of a person that John knew before. "What do you want?"

"The same thing I've always wanted—John," she said as she blew out the match and then lit another. "I'm sorry you won't get to see the children's faces tomorrow when they see the new pool table. But wait—all they will be seeing is a pile of smoldering ashes," she said as that match went out also.

"Maybe if they are nice they'll name the new Center after you—the poor pregnant woman who died on a cold day in December."

"So you think that John is going to take you back if you get rid of me?" asked Natalie, the hate in her words masking for the most part the fear that was bubbling up inside her—she prayed the baby couldn't feel the fear also.

"Of course he will—because I'll be there to pick up the pieces of his once again broken heart."

"John doesn't want anything to do with you—don't you see that? You tricked him—you got his guard down and all these demons rushing back into his mind just so Haver could kidnap me. We've done the whole fire thing once Caitlyn and we know who he saved."

"He saved me too though—or are you too blind to see that?" she asked, her voice shaking with rage.

"Who did he save first though? Who?" she screamed as she watched Caitlyn flick the lit match and a wall of fire quickly began to grow around the basketball court.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: No cheese was used or harmed in the first scene—sorry if it comes off sort of cheesy.

A/N: Well thank you to all who have waited through a year's worth of other Jolie stories to get to read the end of this one. :) Until next time—thank you again, each review brings a smile to my face—PCGirl.

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Natalie watched the fire spreading and wasn't sure what she needed to do. Going back into the offices might not be safe at the moment. She saw the kitchen door and something made her go towards it and she heard Caitlyn following behind her.

"Running? What are you scared?" taunted Caitlyn as Natalie turned to face her and was shoved backwards and onto the ground.

"No," she said quickly and letting her fear begin to overtake her. She wasn't going to die like this—she wouldn't let herself die like this. "I'm sorry Caitlyn. I really am. I know you want John but it's too late—but if you give yourself time—."

"Geez you sound just like the therapists and my parents. Give yourself time—you'll get over John. Would you be able to, Natalie? Would you be able to move on and create a new life without the man you built your dreams on?" she asked as Natalie watched her pull out the matches again. That was when Natalie saw the red jugs in the corner of the small kitchen—the gas cans were in here and Caitlyn was going to kill them both.

Instincts kicked in immediately as she grabbed old the drawer for help up and grabbed the knife, "Don't Caitlyn. Don't throw away innocent lives on lost love."

"Too late," she said as she lit the match.

Natalie didn't know what happened next but she ran towards Caitlyn with the knife—stopping when it stabbed her. She began crying and just sat there next to her—between sobbing and gasping for clean air it was wearing her out as she heard sirens. She was almost unconscious when she thought she heard John shout her name outside in the Gym.

By the time he'd gotten to her she wasn't awake.

------------------

Natalie woke up but kept her eyes closed—there was a weight on her stomach and as she moved her head there she felt his hair and began playing with it in her fingers. She opened her eyes to see she was in a hospital room and John had fallen asleep with his head on her stomach. "Hey sleepyhead," she whispered.

His eyes fluttered open and a half grin appeared on her face, "Hey yourself. How you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine. The baby—is it ok?" she asked, suddenly worried.

"She's fine," he smiled as he touched her stomach gently and caringly.

"She? It's a girl?" she beamed.

"Yeah—they did an ultrasound and said they had a perfect shot to tell me the sex. I know we wanted to be surprised, but there's always next time," he smiled.

"No it's ok. I'm glad we know. How's the Center? Is it destroyed?"

"It's going to take a few weeks to clean up the mess left behind. What do you remember?"

"Caitlyn was there. She was crazy—she'd poured gasoline over a portion of the basketball court. I didn't want to go back into the offices so I went into the kitchen. I don't know what made me go there—she followed me and was ready to kill but both—I grabbed a knife for self defense," she choked on the words. "I'm sorry John."

"Hey. Shhh. Don't be," he whispered quietly and he pulled her in for a hug.

"She was so still—she didn't make it, did she?"

"No," he shook his head and watched her start blaming herself. "Don't start Natalie. Don't start blaming yourself over Caitlyn's death. She wasn't the same person as before."

"I felt bad for her—before Haver she had all these dreams she wanted to live out with you. And while he had her those dreams kept floating through her head—all she wanted was to be with you and be happy. Is that such a bad dream to have?" she asked as tears filled her eyes. "I know what she felt—I mean I had all these dreams I wanted with Cris and when he was first gone I thought none of them would ever happen. But they will—with you. If she could have only waited she'd find the right person that would give her dreams another chance."

"I know—it's ok though—she was so damaged I don't know if the rest of eternity would have helped her. Don't forget she was held hostage for years by a psychotic killer. The only person that was holding me hostage from living was myself. And that was over the moment I saw you," he smiled as he pushed her hair back and looked into her eyes lovingly. "I love you, Natalie."

"I love you too, John."

---------------------

"Are you ready?" asked John as he came over to the truck and opened the door for her and helped her out.

"Are you kidding me? I've been ready for weeks," she laughed as she bundled her coat a bit tighter as he put an arm around her and they walked across the parking lot to the Center.

It had taken them three weeks to clean up the Center and get it ready for opening—Natalie hadn't been allowed into it the entire time. Between John's suggestion that they take this time to finish moving to the house and Adrienne's insistence she had everything under control Natalie had been so busy the idea of possibly reliving the memories of the fire hadn't even come to her til they got closer to the door.

She looked back at the parking lot before they walked in and she saw all the children were standing in the Gym watching her. Some of the boys holding a sign that said Welcome Back Miss Natalie. "Well look at all of this—but this is your first day back also, right?" she asked as Adrienne came over to her side.

"Actually—it's not the Center's been open for a week, but John wanted more of you to himself. But—the kids did hold off on one thing," she said as they pushed her to the back end of the gym and into the game room.

"Well haven't played a game yet, Miss Natalie," said Adam as he walked up and handed her a cue stick. "We wanted you to get the first game."

"Oh guys—this is supposed to be your pool table to play on, not mine."

Adam and a few other boys shrugged, "Yeah. So?"

She just smiled, "Ok. Who's my first opponent going to be?"

"Me," whispered John as he helped her out of her coat and handed both of theirs to Adrianne. Natalie smiled—moments ago she'd wondered if memories of what happened would have an effect but they didn't. She'd forgotten about the fear and worry because of John and seeing all the children being happy she was back where she belonged.

------------------------

_A few months later_

John stood there beside Natalie's bed as she pushed, her hand gripping his so tightly it was turning white. He heard her give one last moan and there was a moment that the room was silent then he heard the small cry. He looked down at Natalie and tears welled in his eyes at looking at her. "You did it. She's here," he said softly as he kissed the top of her forehead.

"Daddy—would you like to come hold her?" asked the nurse over at the table that they'd cleaned her up and swaddled her in a pink hospital blanket.

He walked over and looked at the small bundle and became nervous—how was he going to hold such a small little miracle without hurting her. He took her from the nurse and just smiled down at the little girl. "Hey—I'm your daddy."

"So what's the verdict, John? Is her hair red or black?" asked Natalie as she sat there in a daze watching him.

He ran a hand over the soft fuzz on her head, "Red. Just like her Mama."

"Bring her here," she said as John walked over and placed the little in her arms. "Welcome to the world Meghan." As she ran a finger over her soft cheeks she couldn't imagine that she was holding her daughter. Some people never get to fulfill the dreams they have for their life, but for her and John all the dreams they had were just starting.


End file.
